The former Minneapolis police officer who testified a day earlier that police rubbed him the wrong way before he decided to become a cop returned to the stand on Thursday in the federal civil rights case following George Floyd's death. This time, J. Alexander Kueng, who has a white mom and a Black dad, faced U.S. Attorney Manda Sertich’s cross-examination.
Kueng testified that he learned if you can talk, your airway is not blocked, according to testimony covered by Star Tribune reporter Rochelle Olson. When asked if it was a red flag that Floyd stopped talking 4.5 minutes into being restrained by officers, Kueng said it was time to reassess.
Kueng held Floyd down with former officer Thomas Lane, while former cop Tou Thao blocked bystanders from providing Floyd with any aid. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes and was convicted of murdering the Black father. Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison in the state case against him, and he pleaded guilty to federal charges in a plea deal that caps any additional time in prison at two-and-a-half years. In the federal case against Chauvin’s peers, Thao and Kueng pleaded not guilty to failing to intervene in Chauvin’s use of unreasonable force, and Lane, Thao, and Kueng pleaded not guilty to willfully failing to aid Floyd.
Thao wrapped his testimony on Wednesday, and Lane also plans to testify in the federal case. The prosecution’s focus for most the day Thursday, however, was Kueng.
Sertich brought the jury's attention to a moment in Kueng's earlier testimony when he discussed excited delirium. The National Institutes of Health wrote in its research of excited delirium that it is typically associated with drug use and puts the victim in danger of suffering cardiopulmonary arrest.
Sertich highlighted Kueng making the point that people experiencing excited delirium don’t register pain. Then, Sertich posted transcripts showing Floyd complained of pain repeatedly. He said "ooo, owww, ouchie, man" and said he was having trouble walking "because my hands are hurting," Olson reported.
Kueng said Floyd was complaining about handcuffs because he wanted them removed. Kueng also testified that Floyd was attracted to a partition in the car, which "was a possible sign that could confirm excited delirium," Olson tweeted.
Sertich showed the court an image explaining that cocaine and LSD were common causes of excited delirium, not narcotics. Fentanyl, a narcotic, was the only drug determined to be in Floyd’s system in a large amount when he died, according to an autopsy report The Washington Post obtained. The autopsy report also revealed that small amounts of methamphetamine and THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, were in his system.
Kueung testified that excited delirium training maintained the importance of getting an emergency medical technician to the scene as fast as possible, to keep the suspect restrained, and get him help. Sertich questioned whether the ex-officer knew to put the suspect in a side recovery position, and Kueng responded, “when it's safe to do so.”
He admitted he used his forearm to try to get Floyd in a police vehicle at one point and that when Lane asked if officers should "roll" Floyd on his side, Kueng and Chauvin didn’t respond.
Sertich asked Kueng, a rookie on his third police shift, if even new officers have a duty to intervene, and he responded, “yes, ma'am,” according to Olson.
Sertich noted that Kueng had previously placed a woman on her side in mid-March of 2020. She was intoxicated and “in a puddle of her own vomit,” Olson tweeted.
Kueng testified that he never believed Floyd had a serious medical need, even after Floyd stopped talking and Kueng couldn't find a pulse.
Sertich also focused on discrepancies between what video revealed happened during the detainment and what Kueng told Lt. Richard Zimmerman, who leads the Minneapolis Police Department’s homicide unit. Kueng admitted he didn't tell Zimmerman about Chauvin's knee on Floyd's neck because Kueng didn't view it as his job to detail another officer's perspective.
“It’s not my duty to report another officer’s perspective,” Kueng testified, according to reporter Jon Collins.
Kueng's attorney Tom Plunkett asked Kueng if he "knowingly" omitted information in speaking with Zimmerman. “That was not my intention, sir,” Kueng said in testimony covered by CBS Minnesota.
When he completed his testimony, the defense called to the stand Steve Ijames, a police use-of-force trainer who testified for the defense of Kim Potter. Potter was a veteran Brooklyn Center police officer convicted in the death of Daunte Wright after she alleged she was reaching for a Taser and grabbed a gun, accidentally shooting and killing 20-year-old Wrigh
Ijames testified in the federal case that the Minneapolis Police Department's academy training on the duty to intervene "absolutely" did "not" meet contemporary standards of policing, CBS Minnesota reported. Ijames said if the training is not taught to officers in a hands-on manner, expect for them to get it wrong.
He also called Floyd's arrest by-the-book due to probable cause. Floyd was accused of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Still, Ijames testified that bringing Floyd to the ground and holding him there until emergency management services arrived was the right thing to do, CBS Minnesota reported. “He needed to be controlled for however long it took the ambulance to get there,” Ijames said.
Thao also testified earlier this week that it was necessary to keep Floyd pinned even though he was unconscious because he could "come back and fight again,” ABC News
reported.
It’s terrifying to think that at least one officer—and possibly more—could be so afraid of one man that a trained professional would sooner commit murder than roll the dying man on his side.
RELATED: Ex-officer Kueng testifies he 'was not a fan of police' and they 'rubbed me the wrong way'
RELATED: 'I’ve never seen this much of a struggle': Ex-cop Tou Thao implies George Floyd caused his own death
